November 4, 2004
NOW THAT CABANA BOY'S GONE, WHO CARES?:
Europe's economic goals fail (Graham Bowley, 11/04/04, International Herald Tribune)
Europe's efforts to become the world's most competitive economy have failed, and the European social model faces collapse unless the Continent's governments stimulate growth and create more jobs, according to a report published Wednesday.The initiative, drawn up by Wim Kok, former Dutch prime minister, measures progress on the so-called Lisbon Agenda, which European Union countries introduced in 2000 with a goal of making Europe the world's most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy by 2010.
But since then "the growth gap with North America and Asia has widened," the report says. The gloomy assessment blames national governments for the failure, and it calls on each of the 25 EU countries to publish new national targets for reform, and a timetable for meeting them.
An Industry in India Cheers Bush's Victory (SARITHA RAI, 11/04/04, NY Times)
"This is great news for the offshoring industry," said Nandan M. Nilekani, chief executive of Infosys Technologies, a software services company. The trend toward outsourcing will now become even more inexorable, Mr. Nilekani said.Offshore outsourcing, or the moving of work from the United States to low-cost centers like India, was an issue in the presidential election. The Democratic candidate, Senator John Kerry, blamed Mr. Bush and outsourcing for the loss of thousands of American jobs.
Mr. Bush, in contrast, was largely silent on the issue. But members of his team, among them N. Gregory Mankiw, the chief economic adviser, and Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, have both defended outsourcing as another form of free trade.
Mr. Kerry referred to ''Benedict Arnold companies and C.E.O.'s'' that sent jobs overseas. He promised that as president he would end tax deferrals for companies that send work abroad.
The tone of some campaign comments criticizing outsourcing was noted with some concern in India.
John Kerry will have been the last presidential candidate to have taken Europe seriously as an economic or geo-political power. Posted by Orrin Judd at November 4, 2004 3:08 PM
I'm hoping to visit Europe again, as soon as the euro drops to $.80, a realistic level.
Posted by: ed at November 4, 2004 3:15 PMTargets and a timetable. Yeah, that oughtta do it.
Posted by: joe shropshire at November 4, 2004 3:40 PMWim Kok is a dyed-in-the-wool socialist so you can only imagine what it's really like.
Posted by: Bart at November 4, 2004 3:47 PMThe gloomy assessment blames national governments for the failure, and it calls on each of the 25 EU countries to publish new national targets for reform, and a timetable for meeting them.
Five year plans and meeting 300% of production goals. Welcome back to the future New Soviet Man.
Posted by: MB at November 4, 2004 3:49 PMThere is hope - more and more countries are sending people to learn from the Irish, whose economic boom in the 1990's was fueled by anti-statism and tax reduction.
Posted by: Chris Durnell at November 4, 2004 4:02 PMSo how important was Saddam to Europe's economy?
And is Iran able to pick up the slack?
(That's right. This whole "deep and concerted" European concern over Iranian nuclear development is one big charade. Kind of reminds one of that tremendous need to keep those sanctions---which were working oh so well---on Saddam, don't it?)
Posted by: Barry Meislin at November 4, 2004 4:54 PMYes, timetables and 5 year plans. It's laughable, and we are witnessing the 'farce' part of Marx's dictum. Say, now, how many kilograms of shoes shall we produce this quarter?
Posted by: Bruce Cleaver at November 4, 2004 6:14 PM